Nick Rasmussen

Senior Director of Counterterrorism and National Security, McCain Institute for International Leadership

Nicholas “Nick” Rasmussen currently serves as senior director for the counterterrorism & national security program at the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University in Washington, D.C., and as a distinguished professor of practice at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. Rasmussen joined the McCain Institute and ASU in May 2018 after stepping down as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) in December 2017. Rasmussen is a senior national security professional with over 27 years in U.S. government service, including in senior counterterrorism posts at the White House and in the U.S. Intelligence Community from 2001 to 2017. With a unique blend of experience as a senior policy executive and intelligence official, Rasmussen capped his federal government career as director of NCTC, where he led more than 1,000 professionals from across the United States Intelligence Community, federal government and federal contractor workforce. Rasmussen held senior posts across three White House administrations, serving on the National Security Council (NSC) staff under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama before being appointed director of NCTC by President Obama and continuing his tenure at the request of President Donald Trump’s administration in 2017.

The Mission of The McCain Institute at ASU is to advance leadership based on security, economic opportunity, freedom, and human dignity, in the United States and around the world.